Task force: Palm Beach County bump-and-rob gang jailed

Four men facing 50 charges

One of the suspects is seen withdrawing cash with a stolen ATM card. (Palm Beach County Sheriffs…)

October 25, 2011|By Wayne K. Roustan, Sun Sentinel

Four men have been booked into the Palm Beach County Jail, accused of being the bump-and-rob gang that terrorized motorists since May, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

Christopher Bernard Lorick, 29, and David L. Jackson, 20, of Riviera Beach, and Sean Lenorris Lorick, 20, and Robert Ashley Ward, 33, of West Palm Beach, were arrested after a five-month, law enforcement task force investigation, according to Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Teri Barbera.

The armed carjacking and robberies occurred between midnight and 6 a.m. The suspects would bump the back of the victims' vehicles. When the victims got out to check for damage, they were held at gunpoint and robbed of cellphones, purses, and other valuables. Some victims were forced to drive to an ATM to withdraw money, while others were confronted while using ATMs, Barbera said.

Not all of the armed robberies involved the bump-and-rob tactic.

On May 7, brothers Jared and Chase Carron, were robbed in the driveway of their North Palm Beach home shortly after returning from a restaurant. Three men ran up to them demanding money at gunpoint, police said.

Then, the victims were locked in the trunk of their car and driven to a bank where they gave up a debit card and PIN code. The suspects drove them home, searched their house for more money, drove them back to the bank to get more cash, then stole their wallets, police said.

Surveillance cameras, cellphone tracking and DNA from a discarded ATM receipt helped investigators identify Jackson as a suspect, they said.

On June 13, two victims were changing a flat tire in Palm Beach Gardens when they were robbed at gunpoint by two men wearing bandannas, black hats and hoodies. Both victims were tossed in the trunk of their vehicle after giving up ATM cards and PIN codes, police said.

Investigators later traced the use of those cards to several banks and a gas station where surveillance cameras recorded the suspects withdrawing cash and filling up two vehicles with gas. Riviera Beach police stopped one of those vehicles, a white 2001 Buick, on June 20. The driver, Christopher Lorick, was arrested for drug possession, according to the arrest report.

The Palm Beach Gardens police and U.S. Marshals Service Task Force traced his cellphone records, which placed him at some of the crime scenes. They also revealed calls to his cousin Sean Lorick and several other suspects, the report stated.

Christopher Lorick's girlfriend and her mother identified Sean Lorick from the surveillance pictures taken at a BP gas station in Riviera Beach, investigators said.

On July 17, Ward was arrested after a short police chase in Riviera Beach, records show.

The foursome is facing about 50 charges, but the multiagency task force investigation is ongoing with additional arrests and charges expected, Barbera said.